Below The Beltway

In the wake of this week’s bizarre events surrounding Ron Paul’s vote-for-anyone-you-want-to press conference and Bob Barr’s inexplicable effort to get Paul to join his already formed ticket, David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, is declaring the Barr campaign DOA:

As of yesterday afternoon, Bob Barr’s Presidential campaign is effectively over. There were signs of serious trouble even before yesterday, but his “no-show” at Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty news conference — followed by an insulting suggestion that Ron should join Barr on the LP ticket in the VP slot — demonstrated just how out-of-touch the Barr campaign is, and how poor Barr’s vote total is likely to be.

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There has been evidence all along that the Barr ‘08 campaign has been mismanaged. Ballot access drives were begun late, and conducted erratically. As of today, it appears that Barr’s name will be on the ballot in 46 or 47 states. (Harry Browne appeared on 50 ballots in 1996 and 49 in 2000. Michael Badnarik made it onto 48 in 2004.) Barr has failed to achieve ballot status in West Virginia, due entirely to Shane Cory’s ineptitude, and there are lawsuits pending in five states (LA, MA, ME, OK and PA) to determine whether Barr will be on the ballot.

Fundraising has also been a flop. As I write this, the fundraising “meter” on the Barr ‘08 website shows the total raised by the campaign at $881,500 — about $700,000 since the Denver nominating convention. That works out to about $6,400 a day or $200,000/month. In the days leading up to the nomination, Barr’s people were throwing around numbers like $20 million. The reality is likely to be barely more than $1 million.

But all that would be beside the point if Bob Barr were campaigning proudly as a Libertarian and taking advantage of every opportunity to reach out to like-minded Americans.

Moreover, Nolan says that Barr is doing nothing to advance the interests of the Libertarian Party:

[T]hat would be beside the point if Bob Barr were campaigning proudly as a Libertarian and taking advantage of every opportunity to reach out to like-minded Americans.

Unfortunately, he’s not. Following advice from his campaign manager, Russ Verney, Barr has avoided use of the “L” word wherever possible. There’s a big empty space in the banner at the top of the Barr ‘08 website, where the word LIBERTARIAN could (and should) appear. It doesn’t, despite several suggestions that this be remedied. Barr’s campaign literature, signs and bumper stickers do not include the “L” word either. And a press release issued by the campaign earlier this week describes Barr as a “Former Congressman” with no mention of the Libertarian Party.

Clearly, Barr is not running as a Libertarian; he’s running as an independent candidate: “Former Congressman Bob Barr.”

Nolan goes on to point out that Barr’s attempt to get Paul to join his ticket was both gimmicky and misguided:

This was insanely stupid, for several reasons. First, because Barr has no authority to unilaterally change running-mates. Second, because it’s a insult to Ron Paul, who is far better known and more widely admired. (Reportedly, Ron Paul and his top people are furious.) And third, because even if Ron Paul accepted the invitation and the Libertarian National Committee approved the substitution, it is too late to make a substitution on most states’ ballots.

On this point, I’ve got to agree with Nolan.

I’m not sure who came up with the idea of trying to convince Ron Paul to join Barr on the Libertarian Party ticket, but it was a stupid idea. Paul had already declined the opportunity to run as the LP’s Presidential candidate long ago, so the idea that he’d accept the Vice-Presidential nomination is naive at best. And, as Nolan mentions, Paul’s name could not be substituted for that of the actual LP Vice-Presidential candidate, Wayne Allen Root, at this late date.

This was clearly a gimmick, and I think Nolan is right when he names the people responsible for it:

Why has the Barr campaign has gone so badly awry? The simple answer is that the two men running it — Russ Verney and Shane Cory — are not Libertarians, do not understand what motivates Libertarian activists, and have no interest in building the LP. Verney is a gun-for-hire of no discernible ideology. Cory is a Republican who left his former job at LP headquarters in disgrace, after abusing his authority prior to the Denver convention.

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With these two running the campaign it will continue to embarrass Libertarians and waste our resources. Bob Barr will never qualify for inclusion in the phony “Presidential debates.” He will not get the 5% of the vote that would qualify the LP for future matching funds — which it should not accept in any case. Indeed, at this point it seems likely that Barr will not get even 1% of the popular vote.

This isn’t entirely surprising to me.

I have no idea who Shane Corey is, but Verney was once the man behind the insane Presidential campaign of H. Ross Perot, who was no libertarian of any variety. When he signed on with Barr’s campaign initially, I was surprised to say the least.

Now, I’m beginning to wonder if the insanity of the Perot campaign was really Perot’s fault, or that of his principle adviser.